The present invention relates in general to buoys and more particularly to mooring systems for buoys.
The United States has used marine buoys equipped as mines as a weapon in every Naval war since the War of Independence. Marine buoy mines also proved a valuable asset in Southeast Asia. There is no reason to doubt that there will be continued, and even increased use of, marine buoy mines in any future encounter involving marine vehicles.
In addition to being used in naval warfare, marine buoys are being used in such diverse fields as oceanography, off-shore oil exploration, off-shore surveillance and docking systems. Use of buoys in these diverse fields as well as in marine mine applications is limited by many factors such as deployment, retrieval, cost, space limitations and corrosion.
Another important factor which may limit use of marine buoys is the actions of such buoys under the influence of wind and/or water currents. Such currents influence a buoy in several ways. First, the buoy may be forced out of position (as used in this application, a "stationary" buoy is a buoy that remains on-position after deployment). Second, the buoy may be upset out of the upright position. The first factor, that of maintaining a stationary buoy, is presently remedied by simply attaching an anchor to the buoy. However, devices and systems known to applicants do not remedy the second factor of providing a "stable" buoy while satisfying the other enumerated conditions such as cost, etc. It is this second factor of buoy stability to which the device of the present invention is directed. As used in this application, the term "stable" is defined to mean "non-tilting". Thus, a stable buoy is a buoy which remains essentially upright even though subjected to varying wind and/or water currents.
Marine buoy mooring devices and systems are as old as marine buoys themselves. Examples of mooring devices are: the bridles shown in Bogle, U.S. Pat. No. 2,487,786, Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,732, Bridges, U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,867 and Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,863; the flexible systems shown in Roehler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,748; the links or rods shown in Lloyd, U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,614, Holmes, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,487,484 and Feyling, 3,423,777, the ballast system shown in Jacobson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,208, the intermediate buoy system shown in Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,539; and the combination system shown in Dodge, U.S. Pat. No. 2,819,476.
While most devices and systems known to applicants serve the primary purpose of mooring a buoy in position, only a very few provide the stability required by modern buoys. Of these few systems, none satisfy the additional requirements of efficient deployment and reliable operation. In addition, all of the devices and systems suffer from the above-discussed space and cost limitations which have inhibited of marine buoys in fields such as oceanography.
Mooring systems using bridles are good examples of the drawbacks inherent in the mooring systems known to applicants. Bridles are difficult to store and deploy because the flexible bridle often becomes tangled and kinked during storage or loading. Furthermore, once deployed, bridles are often unacceptable if the buoy is to remain stationary when subjected to varying water and/ or wind currents. The flexible bridle allows the buoy to "wander" off-position, thus increasing the watch-circle carefully defined by the mooring line. Post-deployment tangling and kinking tendency of bridles is perhaps their most troublesome drawback. Permanent tilt may result from entangled bridle. Such a condition is totally unacceptable for a buoy which must remain upright.
Many mooring systems, such as those disclosed by Jacobson and Feyling, provide buoy stability by simply lowering buoy center of gravity. However such systems suffer two important disadvantages; first, they are difficult to deploy; and second, the buoy center of buoyancy is lowered along with the center of gravity, thus diluting some of the gains in buoy stability made by these systems.
The present invention overcomes these drawbacks by providing a marine buoy mooring system which provides a stable, easily deployed buoy which is inexpensively manufactured as well as conveniently stored.